Sturgeon's Law

"90% of everything is crud." 1

Theodore Sturgeon

Sturgeon's Law, coined by science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, states that “90% of everything is crap.” While originally intended to defend science fiction against criticism, this law is highly relevant in Agile environments. Agile teams constantly generate ideas, features, backlog items, and even code—some of which may be subpar. Without rigorous quality filtering, organizations risk accumulating technical debt, inefficiencies, and poor customer outcomes.

By applying quality-focused Agile principles, teams can mitigate Sturgeon's Law's impact, ensuring that the 10% of high-value work shines through while minimizing waste.

Impact on Agile Teams

If unchecked, Sturgeon's Law can lead to:

  • Bloated Backlogs: A flood of low-quality or unnecessary user stories.
  • Feature Overload: Excessive, non-essential features that dilute product value.
  • Technical Debt: Poorly written code leading to long-term maintenance burdens.
  • Inefficient Processes: Meetings, reports, and ceremonies that add little value.
  • Decision Paralysis: Overwhelmed teams struggling to prioritize valuable work.

In an Agile environment, where rapid iteration is key, allowing low-quality work to persist undermines agility and reduces the effectiveness of continuous delivery.

Scenario

An Agile team in a large organization struggles with its product backlog. The backlog has grown to over 250 user stories, with stakeholders frequently adding features based on assumptions rather than validated needs. The development team is overwhelmed, unclear on priorities, and forced to address poorly defined requirements. As a result:

  • Velocity drops due to context switching.
  • Code quality suffers as developers rush to deliver features without refinement.
  • End users are frustrated because new features often miss the mark.

This scenario exemplifies Sturgeon's Law—much of the backlog is unnecessary, poorly defined, or not aligned with customer value.

Ways to Mitigate Sturgeon's Law:
  1. Ruthless Prioritization (Backlog Refinement & Filtering):
    • Use prioritiztion techniques to focus on the things that provide the most value.
    • Empower Product Owners to actively remove low-value backlog items.
  2. Implement Quality Standards (Definition of Ready & Done):
    • For less mature teams, ensure user stories meet a Definition of Ready (DoR) before entering a Sprint.
    • Use Acceptance Criteria and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) for clarity.
    • Establish code reviews & testing as non-negotiable steps.
  3. Encourage Lean Thinking & Simplicity:
    • Apply Lean principles to eliminate waste in processes and work items.
    • Focus on delivering Minimal Viable Products (MVPs) rather than bloated features.
    • Use experimentation (A/B testing, prototypes) to validate before full development.
  4. Strengthen Agile Team Discipline:
    • Use pair programming & peer reviews to prevent low-quality code.
    • Conduct Retrospectives to refine processes and remove wasteful practices.
    • Encourage psychological safety so team members challenge poor ideas constructively.
  5. Leverage Data & Feedback Loops:
    • Utilize customer feedback & analytics to assess which features deliver value.
    • Measure cycle time, defect rates, and rework levels to identify inefficiencies.
    • Iterate based on validated learning, not assumptions.
Conclusion:

Sturgeon's Law serves as a reminder that Agile teams and organizations must actively filter out the 90% of low-value work to focus on the 10% that truly matters. Without proper prioritization, quality standards, and Lean thinking, teams risk inefficiencies, technical debt, and wasted effort. However, by implementing robust quality control mechanisms, Agile teams can ensure that only the most valuable work gets delivered, improving customer satisfaction and team efficiency.

Key Takeaways

  • Not everything deserves to be built. Quality filtering is crucial in Agile.
  • Ruthless prioritization helps teams focus on high-value work.
  • Clear quality standards prevent technical debt and inefficiency.
  • Lean thinking & simplicity reduce waste and improve speed.
  • Continuous feedback loops ensure Agile work delivers real value.

Summary

Sturgeon's Law highlights the risk of low-quality work infiltrating Agile workflows. By enforcing prioritization, quality standards, Lean principles, and feedback-driven improvements, Agile teams can mitigate this risk. The goal is to identify and deliver the 10% of work that drives the most value, ensuring efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction.